(FOX NEWS) – Hiring by U.S. private employers surged in February, pointing to underlying strength in the economy that could encourage the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next week.

The ADP National Employment Report showed on Wednesday that private payrolls grew by 298,000 jobs last month, well above economists’ expectations for a gain of 190,000. January’s private payrolls gains were revised up to 261,000 from 246,000.

The report, jointly developed with Moody’s Analytics, came ahead of the release on Friday of the U.S. Labor Department’s more comprehensive employment report. The ADP report, however, has a poor track record predicting the private payrolls component of the government’s employment report.

According to a Reuters survey of economists nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 190,000 jobs in February after rising by 227,000 in January. The unemployment rate is forecast edging down to 4.7 percent from 4.8 percent in January.